Should I remove myself as authorized user?

Should I remove myself as authorized user?

I set myself as authorized user on my dad's Sears/Citi account, so I could use the card (if I needed to, which I haven't and won't). He took the card out for when I bought my house to let me have more credit available to finish furnishing it with applianances, since I didn't have a single thing at the time and my Sears Card was maxed out with part of the appliances for the house. Now that I think of it, adding myself as AU was a slight mistake...

The card has 36% utilization rate, $3k CL with $1,094 current balance. I'm paying it monthly on time, since it's technically my debt. My Sears/Citi was closed off by Citibank about 2yrs ago and that card currently has zero balance, since I've transferred the remaining balance to my new DiscoverIT card.

My current UR, my estimates since I've paid off two accounts to zero balance (Sears and Amazon) and they haven't been updated in my credit file, is 27% and if my numbers are correct then my UR would drop to 24% if I manage to get my Dad's Sears account of my reports. The other thing I've thought of is make a big payment, 50%, of the total when I get my tax refund...

I'm trying to bring down my UR and bring up my credit to apply for a new car loan in a few months.

Re: Should I remove myself as authorized user?

thanks for the advice!

Thought as much but wanted to be sure. This isnt the oldest account on my file, there's one that is about 10yrs old but that one is closed because it was a small loan and it was paid in full. But I think this is oldest good standing open line of credit ATM on my file.

I'll pay off a lump sum with tax return and cancel it before the year ends.

Re: Should I remove myself as authorized user?

The only issue with removing yourself as an AU is you lose the age of the account on your report. So if it is the oldest account that is on your report, it will lower your overrall AAoA.

That's not completely true. If you dispute it to remove, you may get that result, but typically it stays in place for the typical CRA reporting time of a closed account, but the difference is that the status will say "terminated," or "removed."

*edit: if it stays, it'll still factor into your AAOA, but not utilization.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION: All FICO® Score products made available on myFICO.com include a FICO® Score 8, along with additional FICO® Score versions. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than the versions you receive from myFICO, or another type of credit score altogether. Learn more

FICO, myFICO, Score Watch, The score lenders use, and The Score That Matters are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation. Equifax Credit Report is a trademark of Equifax, Inc. and its affiliated companies. Many factors affect your FICO Score and the interest rates you may receive. Fair Isaac is not a credit repair organization as defined under federal or state law, including the Credit Repair Organizations Act. Fair Isaac does not provide "credit repair" services or advice or assistance regarding "rebuilding" or "improving" your credit record, credit history or credit rating. FTC's website on credit.